Michael Murphy

As co-founder and CEO of MASS Design Group, Michael Murphy envisions and creates community-centric structures with healing built into their core.

Why you should listen

Michael Murphy is the executive director of MASS Design Group. He spearheads MASS' research and design programs and has helped expand the firm into ten countries and three continents.

Murphy led the design and construction of MASS's first project, the Butaro Hospital in Rwanda, which opened in 2011. The award-winning hospital established the MASS blueprint: immersive study of each location for its challenges and advantages, design of buildings that will improve the well-being of patients and communities, low-impact and environmentally sensitive construction that enriches the community, and evaluation of each design’s impact in improving lives.

What others say

“A leader in public-interest design, Murphy creates elegant, functional spaces that serve communities not usually consulted about their needs.” — Atlantic, November 2013

Michael Murphy’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Michael Murphy

Architect John Cary traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, for the opening of the National Memorial to Peace & Justice, which recognizes the estimated 4,300 lynchings that have occurred in this country. He shares his impressions of the powerful monument to racial violence.

The great evil of American slavery wasn’t involuntary servitude, says public-interest lawyer Bryan Stevenson. It was the ideology of white supremacy used to justify it -- and it’s an ugly part of our history we need to acknowledge.

Behold, your recap of TED-related news: Habitat turns 50! First conceptualized in 1961 as part of architect Moshe Safdie’s thesis at McGill University, Habitat 67 has gone on to inspire several generations of architects. Combining high-rise living with community connection, Habitat’s concrete cluster of homes challenged the contemporary notions of apartment complexes and Brutalist architecture. […]